He went on to explain the really messed up things the wolves were doing. Kidnapping human children and drug running, among other things. “Now, a pride of lions is trying to take over the land.”
“And that’s bad?”
“We don’t trust them. When you saw a lion on our land, it was trespassing. That’s bad enough in the human world, but here in the shifter world?” He shook his head. “It’s just not something we do. It’s a sure way to start a war.”
Isa gasped. “A war? Over a mountain?”
“Like I said. It’s not just the mountain. It’s the prestige and privacy that comes with it. The lions might think they can do all kinds of illegal things under the umbrella of legitimacy. The wolves did for a very long time.”
“Well, wouldn’t that mean the authorities monitor them?”
“No. Because you can’t monitor someone unless you have proof. We do things differently in the shifter world. I know they’re up to something, but if I give the human Forest Rangers that as proof, they’ll laugh. We would need to have tangible proof that the lions are up to something illegal.”
Isa considered this for a moment. “I’m guessing you’ve already discussed trying to buy the mountain.”
He nodded. “We did. We don’t have that kind of money.”
“How much?”
“It’s fifteen million.”
Isa winced at the total. Valens noticed, and he reached out to pat her leg.
“I know. It’s a lot. Too much for any one person to buy. That’s why we need to investigate the lions. Especially now that one was spotted on our land.”
There was so much that Isa should tell him right then and there. The man had proved himself to be trustworthy, and he had even shared with her all kinds of things about shifters. But Isa couldn’t tell him that she had a trust for twenty-five million dollars.
A trust she had never touched.
One she pretended didn’t exist because she knew what her father would do if she so much as took a penny from it. He would call her and give her all kinds of so-called advice about her life. He would expect visits and a say in her life.
That say in her life would quickly turn to commands and orders.
But she wouldn’t fold to his will. There wasn’t a chance in hell that would happen. Yet as she sat there in Valens’s living room, thinking about a mountain with a cabin infrastructure that was in need of a buyer, she let her mind wander.
What would she do with a mountain and all those cabins?
An idea formed in the back of her head. Something that was a long-ago wish.
When she was a kid, she went to a sleep-away camp. It was the only time she could ever really be a kid. Of course, those kinds of camps were very expensive, and most families couldn’t swing them.
Isa could make a camp on that mountain and try to get her sponsors to sponsor the camp instead. All kinds of sports could go on. It was an insane idea with way too many moving parts for her to think up right then and there in her boyfriend, lover, mate’s house.
Whatever he was, Valens stared at her as she ran through that little plan in her head. There would still be the question of explaining to her father what she would do with the money. Would he still expect those strings to be tied to something if he knew she had spent it on a summer camp?
Probably.
It would probably kill him to know she was spending the money on other people instead of letting it accrue interest to make herself even richer.
Isa didn’t want to be rich. She wasn’t naive. She knew and understood that people needed money to survive, but if she had enough to have a good life, what did she need the excess for? For the first time in her life, she had a desire to use that money.
Not for herself.
For others.
For children who might need an escape from life for a little while. Be a kid, play games, try new sports, make some friends. Step out of the norm and be free.
It had meant so much to her, and those happy memories had helped her survive for a long time. She was in a position to give other people — little kids — that chance.
She couldn’t exactly pass it up, could she?
“Who is selling the mountain?” she asked.
Valens arched a brow in confusion. “I don’t know. I think the local government.”
“I’m buying the mountain.”
His jaw dropped. “You heard me say that it’s going for fifteen million dollars, right?”
“I did. I have a trust with about that much.”
He stood and turned to face her. “Why would you buy the mountain?”
“I think I could set up a summer camp there for kids.”
If his jaw had been on the floor before, it was even lower now. “But that would mean you’d have to stay in the area. At least during the summer months to run it. Unless you intend to pay someone to run it for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “If I’m buying a mountain, I’m gonna live on it.”
“Wow. Okay. This could be good for us. It would mean the lions can’t settle here. I’d much rather have a nice kids’ camp next door than a pride of insane lions doing fuck-knows-what.”
“Does this fix your problem then?” she asked sweetly.
“It would if it all worked out.”
“Then I think that first thing tomorrow morning, we need to go to a bank. I’m buying a mountain.”
Isa giggled and then leaned back against the couch cushions. “It’s wonderful. I feel like I just did twenty stunts all in a row. I’m all giddy inside. I can feel it. I know this is the right move for me.”
She meant it too. For the first time in her life, she was feeling positive and good about setting down roots. Running a camp would mean she could still write articles on the side, but she didn’t have to give up doing stunts. They would just look a little different.
Like the stunt of teaching kids archery...
Of teaching them how to swim...
Of showing them how to build a fire and sing songs until bedtime...
“This is gonna be the coolest and possibly, wildest adventure of my life.” She laughed again. “So I guess we’re neighbors now. Does that trump mates?”
Valens sat beside her and took her hands in his. “You need to sleep on this. You might not think it’s a good idea in the morning.”
“Oh, I’ll think it’s a good idea in the morning.”
And when she woke up, naked in Valens’ bed after a celebratory fuck, she knew.
Thatcherton and its neighboring mountain were home.
16
VALENS
It was done.
Valens’s mate was the owner of a mountain.
And not just any mountain, but the one that was right beside his own.
After calling her bank and financial adviser — who, as it turned out — was friends with her father, he warned Isa that he would be telling her father. Though it was none of the man’s business, apparently, he felt the need to get involved.
It pissed Isa right off, and if Valens was honest, he was too. Maybe it was more on his mate’s behalf, but he didn’t like the idea that somewhere out there in the world, Isa’s father was thinking he could still control his daughter.